Farahad Zama

I received this book through Early Reviewers and I'm happy to say I throughly enjoyed it. Mr. Ali, a retired government clerk, decides he needs something to do and he opens a marriage bureau...the office is located on what we would call his "front porch." It isn't long before the problems of his customers, his own family and his friends begin to keep him very busy indeed. While the book is lighthearted and has a charming touch, there is much one can learn about Indian customs. This is a first novel and I'll be watching for Mr. Farahad's next one!… (more)

WSIRN commenter rec.

This was lovely. I think it’s been compared to the Alexander McCall Smith series but I liked the pacing better.

It could have been a series of vignettes about the clients, looking for Mr Ali to match them up in arranged marriages, but it was strung together very nicely. Mr and Mrs Ali’s relationship, the situation of the assistant Aruna, the son Rehman protesting the government’s action. Even Leela the housekeeper and her grandson’s surgery.

It was also interesting to read about southern India, and the customs there. Buying saris, visiting shrines, different castes. Mr Ali often tells stories as a way to make a point - usually he is successful, even when his listener suspects they are being played.… (more)

Arranged marriages remain a mystery to most of us who live in cultures where young singles are expected to find their own spouses. Farahad Zama's 2008 novel “The Marriage Bureau for Rich People” helps to erase some of this mystery.

The story, set in India, tells of a retiree named Hyder Ali who, looking for something to do, sets up a marriage bureau in his home. The business becomes an unexpected success, helping many families find suitable mates for their sons or daughters, nephews or nieces, even brothers or sisters. By suitable, they usually mean someone of the right caste (in the case of Hindus), someone who can afford a proper dowry, someone who has the right kind of job and lives in the right area. Families would prefer their daughters not have to move into a home where their mother-in-law lives. Rich people don't want daughters-in-law who want to work. Being previously married, whether widowed or divorced, usually disqualifies a candidate. And everyone it seems wants a match with "fair skin," meaning light skin.

One part of Ali's success is that he preaches compromise. Finding someone who checks off every box may be impossible. First decide what's most important, he says, then make allowances for the rest.

Another part of his success is Aruna, the young woman he hires to assist him and who quickly become indispensable, not just to the office but to the novel itself. In fact, what begins as Ali's story soon turns into Aruna's story.

She comes from a relatively poor family, and because of her father's medical bills there is no money for either Aruna or her younger sister to get married. Aruna needs the job to support her family, never imagining that she might find her own husband through the marriage bureau.

A love marriage is frowned upon, even scandalous, in this culture where marriage comes first, love later. So what happens when love comes first? Zama shows us in this always fascinating, ever pleasurable, constantly informative story.… (more)